Una nueva alternativa: el Proyecto Olivachain

The following section of this chapter explores the work done by other scholars working on similar data to my own. The authors I will be discussing are: Dalwai (2010), Bock (2013), Deumert (2014), Dyers and Davids (2015) and Bock, Dalwai and Stroud (forthcoming).

This project builds partly on my Honours research titled: The use of intimate language by UWC students in social networking media. Dalwai (2010) investigated how students use language to create or strengthen intimacy between themselves and the people they are chatting to. Dalwai (2010) found that intimacy is not something or a factor which only exists between people who are in romantic relationships. Intimacy is also found between family members, friends, colleagues and so on, as argued by Teisho (2009). Dalwai (2010) further argues that according to Teisho (2009,) the very first meaning of the word intimacy that we come across in the dictionary is that it is “belonging to or characterizing one‟s deepest nature”. Therefore, intimacy does not have to occur only in relationships of a sexual nature but is in fact part of every individual‟s nature.

Bock (2013) explored generic structures and registers in her paper: Cyber socialising: emerging genres and registers of intimacy among young South African students for which I was a research assistant. From this paper, I will be using the theoretical framework which she had developed to analyse my data. Bock (2013: 68) explores the “conventionalised genres and styles from a discourse analytical perspective”. Bock (2013: 68) argues through her analysis that:

Despite the seemingly unrestrained and non-standard nature of MXit chatting, it is highly conventionalised and structured and requires a

27 particular „register of intimacy‟ which she claims is excessively reliant

on „evaluative language and affective markers‟.

She further argues that these emerging genres and registers are “fluid and innovative” which allow the users of these cyber socialising applications to shape their identities.

Bock (2013) states that the conventionalised norms for „doing‟ things in any society are shaped and aided by the creation of the cultural and structural contexts against which these norms are evaluated as appropriate or inappropriate. Just like Johnstone (2008), Hyland (2008), Fairclough (2003) and others, Bock (2013) shows that genres are not fixed or rigid, but are dynamic. Bock (2013) uses theorists such as Christie and Martin (1997), Hyland (2008), Martin and Plum (1997) and Eggins and Slade (2005) to explore genre and to develop a framework in order to analyse the chats in her corpus. Bock (2013: 73) states that “genre and register are constructs that work together to explain how meanings are realised in context”. According to Eggins (2004), genre operates at a level with „context of culture‟, whereas register looks at the analysis of language patterns at a level of „context of situation‟.

Bock (2013) found that, despite the differences in register use, the generic structures of chats between different gendered groups are still very similar. She illustrates how the participants use a range of predictable stages to initiate and establish contact as a preparation for the „exchange of news‟. She also looks at how features of textspeak and its different characteristics create a highly personalised and predictable register of intimacy.

Thus based on the framework that Bock proposed in her paper, I will endeavour to utilize her framework and further develop this framework through my analysis. As mentioned before Bock‟s framework draws on quite a few SFL theories of „interpersonal semantics‟ and explores the typical exchange structure and the role played by vocatives and terms of address. I will also be looking at the typical openings and closings of the chat conversations as well as how the advancement of technology has aided in the development and progression of chatting norms and style shifting.

Dyers and Davids‟ (2015) research on Post- Modern ‘languages’: the effects of texting by university students on three South African languages, looks at the ways in which three “South African languages- Afrikaans, isiXhosa and Setswana- are used, transformed and modified

28 through this medium of communication”. The key issues that Dyers and Davids explore in their paper are how the three languages are being used, transformed, modified and „played with‟ within texting practices amongst undergraduate students, as well as whether one can argue that texting offers a space for the resemiotisation and even revitalisation of the above- mentioned language.

Dyers and Davids‟ (2015) paper is based at the University of the Western Cape with 315 undergraduate students as the sample for their data collection. The theoretical framework engages concepts which illustrate the nature of late modern communication where people are able to adjust their communication in accordance with the spatial location of the communication – “local, translocal, transnational or virtual” (2015: 22). According to their findings, in the context of South Africa, young people choose which identities they want to signal through their language practices. Dyers and Davids (2015) also found that diversity and hybridity is present in their data as a result of standard and non- standard language codes being used in the messages. Furthermore, they found that the presence of expressions, unconventional spellings and contractions contribute to the hybridity and diversity of these conversations or messages. Thus, they argue that their data suggest that „texting is a means for young people to capture the informal oral code orthographically‟.

Ana Deumert (2014) also looks at different aspects of mobile communication and sociolinguistics. Deumert (2014: 101) states that “social networking is weakly regulated”. Baron (2008) in Deumert (2014: 101) also argues that, because we chat so frequently, we have become less concerned about how we write and that a sense of “linguistic whateverism” has been adapted. Very little attention is paid to grammar, choice of words and punctuation. In her chapter titled, Bakhtin goes Mobile, Deumert speaks about style and evolution of speech or language as a result of the development of the speakers and social networking.

Tyler Schnoebelen (2012), in Deumert (2014) looked at whether a writer‟s manner of writing emoticons reflected on other aspects and styles of their texting or writing habits. He found that those who omit „the nose‟ when typing out a smiley (emoticon) tend to be younger and use more taboo words, more expressive lengthening, and more non-standard spellings. This is in agreement with my findings, where I found that as my students advance with age, their style of writing and chatting advances as well.

29 In her chapter titled, Textpl@y as poetic language, Deumert (2014) argues that those who still use or construct non-standard spellings consider them to be „markers of cool‟. She states that “acronyms are common in high digital writing cross-linguistically, and a particular enjoyment appears to be their lack of transparency. Unless one is an insider and knowledgeable, the letter sequence itself remains obscure” (2014: 131). Thus, unless you have a schema of the styles or understand chat norms, you will be lost with regards to the understanding of acronyms.

Deumert (2014: 170) states that “Online creativity-like everyday creativity more generally-is closely related to sociability, playful and artful interactions that affirm people‟s social connections and bring about enjoyment”. According to Gauntlett (2011: 76) in Deumert (2014: 170), “not only do we connect pre-existing signs or materials in novel ways, but as we do so we also share them with others, establish and reaffirm social connections, and in doing so experience feelings of joy”.

Creativity, according to Deumert (2014) is not only an enjoyable social practice, but also fundamentally illimitable, boundless and ultimately uncontrollable. Thus, we note that as Deumert looks at all forms of creativity and stylization of writing and chatting, this project illustrates these aspects as well.

In Bock, Dalwai and Stroud‟s (forthcoming) paper titled Cool mobilities: youth style and mobile telephony in late-modern South Africa, they explore the styles and creativity of mobile practices. The data for this research was collected at the University of the Western Cape. According to Bock et al. (forthcoming), “an analysis of style entails drawing attention to the social conventions which structure the data, while simultaneously being cognisant of the ways in which these conventions are reused, reshaped, and transformed”. Furthermore, Coupland (2007: 16), in Bock et al. (forthcoming) states that “styling is part of the process of genre-making, but also part of the process of genre-breaking. Styling can reshape conventional speech genres and how we expect to participate in them”. Bock et al. (forthcoming) also looks at the how the choice of application and texting styles aids in the formation and development of the participants‟ style and identities. In their paper, Bock et al. (forthcoming) argues that texting style is more a matter of stylistic choice than purely driven by changes in the technology.

30 They further argue that the styles of chatting and generic structures of the chats not only reflect the changing identities and ideologies of the participants, although the physical mobile device and the chatting application also plays a role in shaping the style of chatting. They argue that “genre is flexible and dynamic, open to innovation in response to contextual changes and shifts in style… The choice of phone, application and texting style form part of the repertoire on which these participants draw when crafting their own unique styles and identities”. In my project, therefore, I look at the register, generic structures, mobile devices as well as the applications which my participants use and how these all reflect and contribute to the differences and similarities in the style of their chatting.